Martinsburg daily gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1887-1887, 1887-05-07
THE DUTCH GAP CANAL.

4
e.. Butler Tells Its History e ths NJ
union q the sixth Massachusetts.
After song by the quartet, Col Jones
asked Gen. Butler to give his old comrades
history Of the Dutch Gap canal The
general complied, and his explanation,
never before made, was listened to with
intense interest by ALL He said: THE
army Of the James lay on Sept. IS, 1864,
along the outer lines Of Richmond, occu.
pying . portion Of the line Of the main
army under Grant. We could not I'd.
vance, because the enemy had control d
Jamas river, and II the army passed in
the rear Of the forts the Confederate iron.
clads would have every advantage Of at
lacking them In the rear. French creek
makes q detour Of seven miles and returns
again to . point where It Is only 435 feet
from water to water, and this Is blum
sixty feet high. had q consultation with
Gen. Grant and his chief engineer. / said
II we could get our ironclads to drive the
enemy's feet mp the river the army could
follow, but as the river was but seven
feet deep around this seven mile detour,
and the ifonclads drew fifteen or sixteen
feet, it was not possible to get them
around. then suggested the cut, which
was known as Dutch Gap; II it were made
we could get twenty lone feet Of water
above and below the bend. Gen. Grant
agreed, and gave me the services Of his
engineer. Sd while one OF Buffers fail.
ures, it Was not one Of his misjudgments,
Rsit was. ordered BY Grant.
1.-THE work was ct once begun, and on
Christmas day of 1854 1t was completed,
except about twenty-Rve feet watch
formed abulkhead Between the water on
either side During the process of excp-
walton the enemy threw at least 30;0M
shells atlB. The canal was I'd be ninety
feet across the bottom and an average
depth of twenty-five feet. During the
digging hadA hole made In the bank
ana two men stationed on the bluffs above,
and when q mortar shell would rise from
tie enemy's fleet they would shout
shelf, and an would run for the holes
and EeInaine until the shell expleded.
There was one mule killed, believe, and
an army wagon destroyed, and that was
about all the damage done. had an en-.
thusiastic supporter in my work in the
person Of Admiral MelancthOD Smith, who
commanded the Union ironclads, but he
was removed to another sphere Of useful.
ness just prior to the opening Of the canal
Having properly mined the bulkhead, on
Dec. 25 blew it up, and In twenty,
four hours there were three feet Of water
running through the gap. In twenty foul
hours more, by dredging, ] could have RUIZ
an ironclad through At that hour ]
stopped work, and the country and press
rang with the report Of Buffers failure al
Dutch Gap canal ] couldn't tell then,
but can tell now. After / opened the
hole the man who succeeded Admiral
Smith wrote me letter, in which he
said: For Gods sake don't let the rebel.
lion ironclads down upon us. have got
that letter. am not In the habit Of de.
stroying documents. But what could
dor couldn't say then that our fleet
was afraid of the enemy. What would
have been said Of me II had done sof
stBut let me say that on Jan. 8,
1865, the enemy's ironclads came out Of
French creek when the water was high,
and drove our ironclads 80 fast that they
didn't wait even to open the draw In the
pontoon bridges, but crashed through
them, and they, In my Judgment wouldn't
have stopped until they reached Fortress
Monroe but for the fact that,one Of th
enemy's vessels got ashore and the rest OF
the feet was delayed 20 long ms assisting
bar that the water began t0fall,sand they
tetuEhed nnhRrHeu. AS for that naval
officer, whose name I WON'T give Jon, but
yOu can read IL in the history Of the coun.
try, he WAS court nartialsd, found guilty
btscoNardice, and 0rdec6a 70 be dismissed
kram the services The ordsr would haEt
BEEN 0arried out, but a never was ap
Rrofe9 hyithe secretary e the naSy Now,
iet n6sat that Dntsh Gap p the only way
To- get to Richmond by the James river.
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